The present invention relates generally to electrical appliances or equipment having an elongated handle extending from a housing for an electrical motor or other electrically-powered component. Specifically, the present invention is especially applicable to outdoor power equipment, such as grass trimmers, lawn edgers, small snowthrowers, or other similar devices.
Various electrical appliances and other power equipment are adapted for handheld use and include a housing for a motor or other active power-driven component, with an upwardly-extending handle assembly secured to the housing. Typically, the handle assembly is long enough to allow operation of the appliance by an operator standing in an upright position while the housing for the power-driven component rides on the ground or is held adjacent to the ground.
The handle assemblies in these types of equipment are frequently constructed of a hollow tubular member or members, of either a circular or non-circular cross-sectional shape, with at least a portion of the hollow tubular handle member being disconnected or disassembled from the housing in order to conserve space and packaging materials during shipping and sales display. Prior to use and operation of the equipment, however, the tubular handle member or members must be assembled (typically by the end user) into the above-described upwardly-extending handle configuration. Such tubular handle members are hollow in order to provide an open interior, through which an electrical cable extends in order to supply power from a cord (usually near the upper end of the handle) to the active power-driven component in the housing (usually at the lower end of the equipment). In such arrangements, it is also conventional to provide electrical switching and/or speed controls at the upper end of the handle assembly.
Because of the above-described disassembled condition of such electrical appliances or equipment during shipping, it is often difficult or cumbersome to assemble the unit without pinching or crimping the electrical cable running through the tubular handle into the housing for the motor or other power-driven component, thus causing resistance to the proper alignment of the handle and housing. In addition, because of the existence of the electrical cable, it is sometimes troublesome to maintain such proper handle and housing alignment while fasteners are inserted and tightened during installation and assembly.
The present invention seeks to address the problems associated with prewired electrical appliances or equipment having handles and housings that are disassembled during shipping, but which require assembly prior to operation of the equipment, and to facilitate the ease and convenience with which such assembly is accomplished.
In accordance with the present invention, an electrically-powered appliance, such as a line-type grass trimmer, lawn edger, snowthrower, or the like, includes a housing, an elongated hollow tubular handle, an elongated electrical cable extending through and within the tubular handle, and an attachment arrangement for attaching the tubular handle to the housing in an upwardly-extending, longitudinally-extending configuration. In such an attachment arrangement, an extension or other portion of the housing includes an attachment portion and a removable portion, preferably of a common "clamshell" configuration, with fasteners extending through one or more openings in these attachment and removable housing portions for fastening these portions to one another with at least an end portion of the tubular handle securely clamped therebetween. Such tubular handle end portion has one or more handle openings extending laterally therethrough on laterally-aligned opposite sides thereof, corresponding to the number of housing openings extending through the attachment and removable housing portions. The housing openings and the handle openings are laterally aligned with one another in order to ensure proper alignment and positioning of the handle when the attachment and removable housing portions are fastened to one another with the end portion of the handle clamped therebetween.
In order to further assure such proper alignment of the handle with the housing, and to facilitate ease of maintaining such proper alignment while the fasteners are inserted through the housing and handle openings, the attachment and removable portions of the housing each preferably include internal annular bosses generally surrounding their respective housing openings. The handle openings, which extend through opposite sides of the tubular handle, are sized to receive the internal annular bosses on the attachment and removable housing portions in order to aid in the proper alignment and maintenance of such proper alignment during assembly.
Additional objects, advantages, and features of the present invention, along with variations on the present invention, will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.